case study: Wal-Mart stores in 2003

Case#1 Wal-Mart—“strategic coherence” map

The Porter (1996) Harvard Business Review article (“what is Strategy”) provides a graphical description of Southwest Airlines’ activity system showing coherence in its strategy. Draw a similar strategic coherence map for Wal-Mart. Think carefully about how all of wal-mart’s details in their activity system are complementary and reinforcing for their overall business-level strategy. Identify, graphically, which activities are major and which are minor, and link together activities that reinforce each other to a substantial degree.